Bit jerked away from his outstretched fingers. No.
"Bit doesn't really like being touched," Nora said stiffly, though inside, she was quietly amused. Her Bit was definitely a free spirit, just like Kaira, to whom it had belonged before Kaira was derezzed. Nora and Bit were - she didn't know if you could call them friends, exactly, but Bit was definitely the closest thing she had to one.
Cor pulled his hand back at the Bit’s reaction and nodded when Nora explained the line he’d almost crossed. “Oh, ok. Sorry.” he apologized, holding his hands up slightly in peaceful surrender.
"It's all right," Nora said, with a ghost of a smile on her face. She sipped her drink.
And it was then that a yell came from the far side of the bar.
"My disc! Has anyone seen my disc?"
A white-faced, orange-haired program came hurtling out of the crowd towards the counter. "Bartender, has anyone turned in a disc?"
"N-not that I know of," stuttered the bartender, shrinking back.
Nora's nerves immediately sparked to life. Those two gang members had been up to something! Standing up again, she shoved her way through the crowd and peered towards their now-empty booth. Cursing softly to herself, she headed for the door, ready to track the two of them down, then realised she'd forgotten Bit. Somewhat grudgingly, she headed back towards the bar.
"Bit, come here," she said.
No, Bit said, bobbing up and down.
"I said come here." She swiped for it, but it dodged her hand and whizzed off towards the orange-haired program, who was now frantically asking everyone whether they had seen her disc.
"I don't have time for this," Nora grumbled impatiently, heading towards Bit.
Cor choked on his drink as he heard the scream. Disc jackers? Really? he groaned as the frantic program raced towards the bar. “Oh, for Flynn's sake.” he muttered under his breath. He was looking around at the bar when Nora came back for her Bit and stood up when it left him. “Nora, calm down.” Cor said calmly as he followed her towards the panicking program.
"Tell that to her," Nora said, pointing at the orange-haired program. "And you're going to have to pay for that drink, you know."
(OK I have some semblance of a plot for this, I was thinking they could both go chasing after these disc jackers and then bump into each other while in vigilante dress, not recognise each other, and then either strike up an alliance or a rivalry, with each trying to outdo the other, while still remaining friends outside of "work", and then eventually secret identities get revealed etc. etc. etc. If you don't like it or would suggest a change let me know!)
“She at least has a reason to get worked up.” Cor defended. “You’re acting like you could have stopped this. And I already paid for mine.” he said before walking up to the woman. “Hey, hey. It'll be alright, ok.” he told her calmly. “Tell me your name and what you do. Please.”
(I like it! Maybe a reluctant alliance between them? Like they have to work together but they snipe off at each other all the time… Overall, I love your idea!)
Nora scowled. She could have stopped this, if only she'd trusted her instincts. She was losing time. She needed to get going.
"Come on, Bit," she said, hurrying through the crowd and out of the door, ducking into a dark alleyway and activating her Aurora outfit before hopping on her lightcycle and heading down the street, fairly confident she knew the direction the two programs had gone. Bit rode on the tails of her short, shimmery cape.
"I don't know!" The orange-haired program was hysterical, clearly torn between flight or breaking down in a sobbing heap. "I don't know…"
"Shh, honey, it'll be all right," said the program's friend, patting her shoulder. Her name's Aya, she mouthed.
(Sounds gucci!)
Cor didn't even pay attention to Nora when she left, focusing on the program in front of him. He bit his lip at the news. If she already didn't know then her disc must have been missing for a while before she actually noticed. Really not good. He nodded gratefully at the supposed friend… Hopefully she really was. “Aya? Aya's a nice name.” he smiled softly. “Alright, Aya. You see this nice program next to you? I want you to stay with her until you get your disc back, ok?”
"O-okay," the program stuttered, burying her face in her hands. Her friend patted her back and mouthed, Thank you.
Nora, meanwhile, was still on the track of the two disc jackers. She had spotted them up ahead in a Light Runner, and was now going full speed after them.
Cor smiled slightly back at the friend and nodded. “Keep her calm and keep talking to her. I've heard it helps.” he instructed softly before turning to the bartender. “Here. Their drinks are on me.” he said, putting a few bits on the counter with a deep glare. “And while you're at, hire some decent security around here.” he added crossly as he stormed out of the building.
He sighed softly as his buzz from the drink faded away too quickly from all that excitement. Though he figured it couldn't be helped as he ducked down an alley and change his suit to black while the lighting stayed the same. He didn't know which way the two thieves went but there was only one place they could be going to. The sleeves on his jacket dissolved as he rezzed in his lightcycle and drove off.
Nora sped after the Light Runner, tailing them to an old, abandoned warehouse on the docks.
If it weren't for the urgent nature of this little mission, Cor would be enjoying this a little more. But having your disc taken… He couldn't help the shudder at the thought. A program was honestly better off losing a limb than their disc. He sped up as he took another back alley shortcut.
Nora got off of her lightcycle and peeked into the warehouse. The programs she'd seen earlier were indeed there, as well as a few others. She searched for the disc: there. It was sitting on a box. They weren't even doing anything with it.
A spike of fear rammed itself into her heart. What if they'd stolen the disc… just to steal it? Just to wreak havoc?
Regardless of the programs' purpose, she had to get it back.
Once he arrived at the right location, Cor took off his ISO band, hiding it in an inner pocket of his jacket, and slid on a slim visor that covered his eyes. A full helmet like Clu or Rinzler would send all the wrong impressions. He put his lightcycle back in its baton form and walked up to the abandoned building. He wasn't one to make a lot of moral judgments considering what he did while dressed this way but he drew the line at stealing any program’s disc.
Nora, safely hidden in the shadows, eyed the new program warily. Another Iris - or another vigilante? Bit skulked behind her, pulsating nervously.
Plan after plan raced through her mind. If this new program was indeed another gang member, things had just gotten a whole lot more dangerous.
Cor stood at the front door, a little nervous as he always was on exploits like this. Though he usually preferred fighting the Black Guard rather than a gang. Even the most organized gang was more chaotic than the regimented strictness of reprogrammed fighters. He left his disc holstered as he let out a slow breath and pushed open the doors.
"To follow or not to follow," Nora muttered to herself.
Yes, Bit said, whizzing once around her head.
"Shh!" she said, trying to shove Bit into the shadows.
The programs, who had been chatting, turned to Cor. The purple-haired program's eyes narrowed, and she took her disc from her back.
"Asta, put the disc down," said the mohawk guy roughly. "What are you doing here, program?"
Cor gave a cocky yet dangerous smirk at the question. "Looking for a couple of rouges who don't care who they hurt when they take something that doesn't belong to them." he answered in a rougher, deeper tone of voice than his normal one. He fearlessly walked inside and shut the doors behind him, walking with a grace that only the best security programs used.
"He's going to get himself killed," Nora said softly.
Yes, Bit said, bouncing up and down.
Nora bit her lip. To go in or not to go in? If this guy was a pro, she'd leave it to him, and yet she'd never seen, or heard, of him before.
I'll wait, she decided.
"Belong to us?" the mohawk guy said, exchanging smirks with his fellow programs. "The whole Grid belongs to us."
"We weren't gonna do anything with it anyway," said Asta, picking up the disc and tossing it at him. "What's a little bit of harmless fun?"
(They corrupted the code in the disc)
Cor's scowl deepened at their careless attitude as he caught the disc. “You call this harmless… Tell that to the program you took this from. She probably doesn't remember much about herself now.” he growled before accessing the information to make sure it was the right one. “You’re lucky I don't take your discs and break them to show you what it feels like.”
(Ok. I’ll work that in my next reply.)
"I'd like to see you try," said Asta with a smirk.
"Don't," mohawk guy said, putting a restraining hand on her arm (she scowled and jerked away). "Be on your way, now, whoever you are, or we won't be so kind."
Cor nodded slightly, more to himself as he skimmed over the information on Aya’s disc. “You know… I don't think I will. For Iris members, you act like amateurs.” he pointed out smirking. “You didn't mean any harm? What’d you use? A code worm? I've been doing this for a while so you lucked out.” he warned, scowling dangerously at them as his grip on Aya’s disc changed slightly.
"Hm," said Asta with a sardonic smile. "Maybe you did. Now get out."
Nora, meanwhile, was still debating whether or not to go in. She hadn't heard anything, so that either meant the other vigilante had been derezzed on the spot… or that he'd derezzed them on the spot. The possibility of a negotiation didn't even cross her mind.
"Should I go in, Bit?" she whispered.
Bit zipped around uncertainly, then flashed red. No.
Cor was unaffected by the woman's smile though the idea of smacking the pair around was getting more appealing. “Fair warning, I won’t hesitate to hit a woman.” he said plainly. It just didn't feel right to simply walk away without teaching these guys a lesson, even though he already had the disc.
"Oh? Is that so? Because I wouldn't hesitate to hit you." She held up her disc.
"This is your last warning, program," the mohawk guy said roughly. "Get out."
“I don't think so.” Cor growled, lifting his disc off his back. He was a good fighter with one disc. Using two, however… Well, there was only one program he knew of that could fight like that.
"You asked for it," said Asta with a smirk, and the programs threw their discs in perfect sync, both of them arcing smoothly towards him.
Cor quickly ducked out of the way of the oncoming discs and threw his own at the one with the mohawk. He wasn't going to let Aya’s disc go anytime soon until he fixed the coding.
Mohawk guy caught the disc easily, twirling it around his finger. "Looks like we get two for the price of one, eh Asta?"
Asta nodded, catching her own disk and hurling it at the vigilante.
Nora, meanwhile, had heard shouting. With a sigh, she got up and stepped out of the shadows. "Bit, stay here."
Yes, Bit said, zipping around in a circle.
Nora slipped into the warehouse. Her helmet both hid her face and distorted her voice. When she saw the discless vigilante, she almost smirked.
"All right, you two, enough with the games," she said coldly. "Hand over the disc."
Cor swore under his breath when his disc was caught. He really didn't want to do this but he didn't seem to have a choice. He gripped Aya’s disc and charged at the two gang members.